As a result of the conversion of water into steam, saline scales, more particularly calcareous scales, will be formed in the vaporization chamber, which has usually a labyrinth configuration. In the course of time, said scales can reach such dimensions as to fill substantially or even completely the vaporization chamber, thus compromising the proper operation of the iron and, possibly, damaging it irretrievably. With the conventional irons of the type specified above, it is extremely difficult or even impossible to reach the vaporization chamber either to eliminate said scales mechanically or even to replace it.
From U.S. Pat. No. 724,198 a steam iron is known according to which the handle, cover, shell and water reservoir of the iron may be disassembled from the sole plate, thus exposing the cover sole plate of the steam generating chamber.
The above disassembling operation, although comparatively simple to be performed, still requires a certain skill, since (see column 4, lines 17 to 31 of the cited document) it requires the removal of the thermostat dial and the unscrewing of an assembly bolt, that is a number of operations requiring the use of tools, and a certain skill in disassembling and re-assembling of said parts which are not within the reach of a person having no elementary technical skill, like an average homemaker.
From U.S. Pat. No. 3,413,741 a steam iron is known formed by a number of component parts (at least three) which are connected together by means of manually operable latching means so that the parts can be assembled and disassembled without the use of tools.
The main drawback of the above described prior art steam iron resides in the fact that it may easily happen that the parts becomes unadvertently unlatched, or connected by a bad latch, in which case there is the danger of electric shocks to the user, or of bad contacts between the electric terminals, with consequent sparking and overheating of the terminals.